[Narrator: Nadia couldn’t hear any more of the conversation between Zizi and Aunt Magda, but she continued to stand by the front door watching as the pair greeted her daughter, Ilona, who was returning home after finishing work for the day.

As I mentioned in the Prologue, Ilona is 22. She works at a tea shop, where she started working while she was still in high school. She manages the store now since Mrs. Radcliffe, the owner, has gotten older and prefers to leave the shop in Ilona’s charge.

Meggie, Ilona’s friend, should be arriving soon to have a tarot card reading.]

When Zizi’s car finally pulled away, Ilona came into the house smiling and shaking her head. She kissed Nadia and said, “Do those two ever stop quarreling?”

“It’s their standard argument. Someday, I’ll tell you all about it. Where’s Meggie?”

[Narrator: Meggie and Ilona have been close friends for five years. Although Ilona is seven years younger than Meggie, it was she who convinced Meggie to go back to school and take some college courses. Up till then, Meggie had been stagnating in dead-end jobs that were anything but fulfilling. And the pay was outrageously low. Two years ago, though, she quit her regular courses at college and decided to enroll in The School of Floral Design.]

“These are for you,” Meggie said, handing a basket of flowers to Nadia. “I’m hoping they’ll persuade you to give me a good reading.”

“Heh,” Nadia chuckled. “It should be so easy.” She raised the basket of flowers to her nose and sniffed.

“Yeah, I know, I know,” said Meggie, “but I have a lot of questions that need answering. My love life is stuck in a bottomless pit at the moment, and I have a tough decision to make about work. Since I divorced “the weenie,” I’m not sure which new path I should take.”

“Oh, sorry,” Meggie apologized. “The reason I call him “the weenie” is because the creep was seeing another woman for almost a year. And he couldn’t bring himself to tell me he wanted a divorce. He wasted a whole year of my life pretending our marriage was fine.”

“I am bitter,” Meggie said. “It’s impossible for me to understand how someone can stay in a marriage that is not working for them anymore. Why didn’t he tell me?”

Ilona covered her mouth with her hand and quietly chuckled. “Meggie, you have to admit you can be short-tempered at times. Is it so hard for you to understand that “the weenie” might have been a wee bit intimidated?”

Meggie was about to retort, but when she glanced over her shoulder, Ilona had a wide grin on her face. Instead she admitted, “Okay, sometimes I get a little steamed, but I told him from the very beginning, when we first started dating seriously–you remember, Ilona, I mentioned this to you before–I told him I would never want to live with someone who didn’t love me–totally, completely and without question.”

Nadia didn’t wait for Ilona’s answer. Still holding the basket of flowers Meggie had given her, she now handed it to Ilona and said, “Maybe you should put these in the dining room for me and I’ll get started on Meggie’s reading.”

“Let me explain how an open reading works,” Nadia said, sitting down at the table. “Since Ilona and I are your friends and we are aware of recent circumstances affecting your life, we’ll stop and talk about the cards as they turn up. Whenever you feel like talking, or if Ilona wants to add something, we’ll stop for a few minutes and talk.”

After Ilona placed the basket of flowers on the mantle, Nadia said, “While you’re there, Ilona, pick up the tarot cards and bring them to me, please.”

[Narrator: Nadia unwraps the tarot cards, which are kept in a red silk cloth. She fingers the cards. Then she places the entire deck on top of her hands. She then instructs Meggie to place the palms of her hands on top of the cards. Together they sit silently for a few minutes, with the cards sandwiched between their hands. Ilona is sitting quietly on the sofa, waiting for the reading to begin. Eventually, Nadia hands the cards to Meggie, The Seeker. She tells Meggie to shuffle her thoughts and questions into the cards. Meggie complies. She concentrates while she shuffles the cards. Nadia then motions for her to place the cards in three separate piles on the table. One by one, Nadia picks them up. The reading begins.]

“Here we have the Two of Cups. It’s a lovely card when it’s right side up, but when it appears in reverse, as it does here, it signifies the loss of balance in a relationship. In your case, the divorce.”

As Nadia spoke, she noticed Meggie’s forehead began to show signs of strain. “Meggie, dear,” she said, “this isn’t supposed to be stressful. Remember this is in your past. I’m sure the reading will get better. As a matter of fact, here is a good card and we’re still looking at your past.”

Nadia rested her hand on top of one of Meggie’s. “I always have time for you, dear. By all means, tell me how the trip came about.”

“Well, you know I was married to the weenie for five years. And for me, they were pretty happy. Looking back, though, I see it was a mediocre marriage at best, but we were there for each other and, like I said, I thought everything was good with us.”

Nadia tilted her head a bit to one side. “When did you realize he was seeing someone?”

Meggie sighed. “Well, he started riding his bike again, after leaving it get moldy in the garage for years. All of a sudden, exercise and salad became part of his daily routine. At the time, I thought that was a good thing. I began to prepare more vegetables for dinner.”

Sliding forward on the sofa, Ilona said, “I mean, Mom, it never occurred to her that he was trying to look good for some other woman.”

Meggie frowned and nodded. “Yeah, that’s about the size of it. That possibility never crossed my mind. But one Saturday, when I stripped the beds, I had room in the washing machine for a few more pieces of laundry. I picked up one of his t-shirts. And I smelled her.”

“Jeez,” Ilona said to Meggie. “I remember how you looked when you walked into the tea shop that day. I knew right away something horrible had happened. My first thought was you lost your job.”

“Yeah, well, it was a whole lot worse than that.” Meggie took a deep breath and looked back at Nadia. “You know, Ilona has always been a good listener and she’s given me some really good advice over the years. She was the first person I thought to talk to when I realized I was dealing with a cheating creep of a husband.”

Nadia sympathized, and agreed that Ilona had a level head on her shoulders and usually dispensed pretty good advice. “When I saw her later that day,” Nadia recalled, “she told me she advised you to ask your husband point-blank whether he was having an affair.”

“And that’s exactly what I did that night. He got home late. I assumed he had been with her. Still, I thought maybe there was a logical explanation.” She snorted. “Unfortunately, he seemed absolutely elated to, basically, tell me to go take a flying leap.”

“Oh, he backpedaled a bit, saying he should’ve told me a long time ago, but he didn’t want to hurt me. And you know what the worst part was?” Meggie asked, shaking her head. “He looked me straight in the eye and he lied. The weenie was preparing to leave…soon. Even paid off his car with my money so he would have less of a financial burden when he walked out. What a creep!”

It was hard for Nadia to understand how a person could betray another’s love and trust so heedlessly. She knew being on the receiving end of something that horrific is devastating to the spirit. And she could see the remains of the wreckage in Meggie’s eyes.

Wishing to move on to a more cheerful subject, Nadia glanced down once again at the Six of Swords. “Tell me how your trip came about?”

“Oh, yes, that’s what started this discussion in the first place, wasn’t it. Well, the trip hinges heavily on the outcome of my divorce. I was too humiliated to file based on the weenie’s extramarital affair. If I had to testify to that in court…I couldn’t bear that.” Meggie twisted the sleeve of her blouse as she spoke. “I’d been married to the guy for five years, for Pete’s sake, and they were happy years as far as I was concerned. So, I told my lawyer I wanted a no-fault divorce.”

“Both parties agree to the divorce. After 90 days, it’s all over–kaput. We didn’t have much money. The weenie was kind enough to leave all our furniture. He certainly didn’t need it. He moved in with his lady love and that was the end of it.”

Meggie smoothed her hair with her hand and looked away from Nadia. She bit the corner of her lip. “I kinda was wishing that before the 90 days were up, the weenie would come to his senses and realize what he was giving up.”

“No, it never did,” Meggie agreed, taking a deep breath. “Deep down, I guess I knew it was over. About a month after my attorney filed the divorce papers with the court, I started collecting brochures–travel brochures–to Alaska. I decided as soon as my divorce became final, I would go see something I’ve wanted to witness my entire life–the aurora borealis.”

Nadia nodded, finally understanding. “So. that’s why you went in the middle of the winter. When Ilona mentioned you took a trip to Alaska, I wondered why you chose that time of year to go.”

Meggie smiled and raised her eyes toward the ceiling, recalling the ecstacy she felt the first time she saw those incredible colors splashed across the sky. “When I say that experience was staggering, it’s no exaggeration. I will carry those lights with me for the rest of my life. “

[Narrator: The reading has progressed. The cards have revealed that Meggie is an extrovert, who is strong-willed, creative and intelligent. She is artistically talented and has learned to use her talents through her flower arrangements. From her recent failed marriage, she has learned to be more observant and although she is sometimes meloncholy, she swiftly recuperates and finds joy in the little things that life offers. One detail that was made clear through the cards is that she expects complete loyalty from those she calls her friends. She has zero tolerance for disloyalty. Her friends know her to be honest, true and totally in their corner when needed. And so the reading now continues with the question Meggie has about her job.

Nadia looked at the two cards with approval. “Even though your personal life is up in the air at the moment, it appears you’re doing much better with your professional life. Both of these cards refer to your profession. The Eight of Pentacles signifies how well you’re learning the floral trade and the Three of Pentacles shows that your efforts are about to be rewarded. The choice is yours.”

“I’m glad this came up,” Meggie said. “My professional life is one of the things I want to discuss with you and Ilona. It’s about something that happened last Saturday when I was sitting in the tea shop.”

“Mrs Radcliffe came into the shop while I was there,” Meggie said, glancing at Ilona. “Do you remember the two of us going off together, Ilona? We sat at that table near the rear of the shop.”

Ilona nodded. “Of course. I was busy, not blind. I meant to ask you what the two of you were talking about. Mrs. Radcliffe was scribbling like crazy on a napkin. But by the time things slowed down, both of you were gone.”

Meggie continued. She seemed excited and began to talk a little faster. “Mrs. Radcliffe used to rent the empty shop to a produce store. They went out of business. Do you remember?”

Ilona moaned. “Oh, how I hated that store. Not the people, they were very nice, but they stored so much produce in our shared storeroom. I had to crawl over crates and boxes to get supplies whenever I needed them for the tea shop.”

“How could I ever forget all that produce!” Meggie covered her mouth with the tips of her fingers and chuckled. “Remember the day you sent me back to the storeroom to get a box of creamers out of the refrigerator for you?”

“Mom, you should have seen her.” Ilona said. “A crate of lettuce fell off one of those high shelves that run along that back wall. She was screaming my name and as I walked back to the storage room I was thinking, how hard can it be to grab a box of creamers?”

Ilona’s shoulders shook as she finished the story. “Then I saw her. I burst out laughing. I couldn’t help it. She was trapped under a half-empty crate of lettuce and heads of lettuce were scattered around her. She couldn’t move. It took me a minute to free her from the lettuce because I was laughing so hard.”

“Yeah, very funny! There I was trying to be helpful and I almost got myself knocked out by killer lettuce heads.”

Meggie tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Getting back to my choices, I’ve made a decision. As you know, over the years, Mrs. Radcliffe and I have become friends. She knows about my recent divorce and she knows about my apprenticeship over a Kempter’s Florist Shop. She’s actually seen my work, believe it not.”

“Remember all those anonymous orders that came in to Kempter’s each month asking that I, personally, design the flower arrangements and have them delivered to the Pediatrics Floor at Abington Hospital? Well, all those orders came from Mrs. Radcliffe.” Meggie paused and smiled at Ilona. ” Just think back to all those days the two of us sat and tried to figure out who my secret admirer was. It was her–Mrs. Radcliffe.”

“You actually got the ball rolling, Ilona, because when you started working fulltime at the shop, Mrs. Radcliffe decided to volunteer a few times a week at the hospital in the pediatrics wing. That gave her an opportunity to see my work without my knowing it.”

“Why all the cloak and dagger stuff?” Nadia asked. “Why not just order the flowers and have them delivered to her home?”

“She wanted to see if I was any good, if I had talent,” Meggie said. “Each time she called in an order, she requested a different color scheme, or a theme–like Halloween or Valentine’s Day–stuff like that.”

Meggie smacked one of Ilona’s hands and laughed. “Stop being impatient. I’m coming to that part.” She took a deep breath. “Now that the shop is empty, Mrs. Radcliffe made me an offer I don’t think I can refuse. It’s a little scary but…here it is. She likes my work; thinks I can be a successful businesswoman. She offered to rent me the store for next to nothing for the first three years. If I show a decent profit at the end of that time, my rent will fall in line with the rest of the businesses on the avenue.”

Nadia tilted her head, thinking. “Did she say why she was doing this for you?”

“Mrs. Radcliffe thinks that at the end of three years, I should know if the flower business is for me or not.” Meggie looked away for a second and then cast her eyes downward. “My past record of employment is less than stellar.” Frowning, she continued, “I hate to admit it, but I haven’t stayed very long at any of my jobs. You know it, and Mrs. Radcliffe knows it, too.”

Meggie looked sorrwful, but quickly regained her earlier enthusiasm. “Anyway, Mrs. Radcliffe and I have talked about my lack of staying-power and she’s convinced it’s because I never liked the jobs I had. She’s right, don’t you think, Ilona?”

Chapter 4 – Entry #44

“Yes, she’s absolutely right,” Ilona answered. “That’s why I kept after you to go back to school in the first place, so you could work at something altogether different.”

“Well, Mrs. Radcliffe agrees. I mean, I know I’ll still love working with flowers and all, but if being a self-employed businesswoman isn’t for me, I can go back to working for someone else.”

“What the Three of Pentacles shows is that your perseverance and effort in your chosen field will be rewarded. I’m sure that refers to this offer Mrs. Radcliffe has made to you. It also means that it will take a great deal of time and energy on your part to gain some degree of success. How much succes–that is uncertain. However, it is within your grasp.”

The three of them sat silently for a few minutes. Meggie calculating the money she’d been able to save and the money she would have to borrow. Ilona was thinking how great it would be to have Meggie working right next door. Nadia was looking at the next six or seven cards wondering what, or how, should she tell Meggie.

“I’m goi ng to do it,” Meggie shouted. “Now give me some good news about my love life, Miss N. That will make my day complete. C’mon. I see you eyeing those last few cards.”

Nadia laughed and shook her head. It was always a treat being around Meggie. She was bubbly and fun. Her spirit hadn’t been stifled by the divorce. She was bitter–yes–but she’d regained her sense of humor. “I’ll tell you about your love life in a minute, Meggie. Part of it is strange. But first, I want to give you some advice.”

“You must allow yourself time to heal,” Nadia said, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms in front of her. “The debris left behind after a divorce is devastating to the psyche. The weenie,” she chuckled because she used Meggie’s nickname for her ex-husband, but she immediately became serious again. “He was once the love of your life. I remember, because I met you a few months after your marriage.”

Purposely keeping Meggie in suspense, Nadia wagged her index finger at her and made some tsk sounds. “Remember, you’re going to be starting a new business. There’s not going to be a whole lot of time for pleasure.”

“I’ve never known her to kid about a reading,” Ilona said. “And by the look on her face, I’d say she’s as baffled as you are.” Standing up, Ilona moved closer to her mother and looked over her shoulder at the remaining cards on the table. “What do you make of it, Mom?”

“Well, even though Meggie and I both would recognize this mystery man, we don’t know if he’s a mutual acquaintance. I mean, he could be a co-worker of Meggie’s, while being a close friend of mine–or vice versa. Or he could be a client of mine, and a school chum of Meggie’s. Any combination is possible.”

Meggie placed her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her hands. She stared down at the remaining card. “Well, she looks pleasant enough, Miss N. Let’s hear it.”

“The High Priestess is wise and cautious. You see the moon at her feet and the full moon on her head? They symbolize hidden matters. The High Priestess reveals nothing about the future. She depends upon your instincts to guide you through the maze you are about to enter. She commands you to use common sense, but also to listen to your intuitive inner voice. It is all she is willing to tell.”

“You will undoubtedly recognize him as the one the next time you see him,” Nadia said, “or maybe not. Sometimes it takes a certain look, or a conversation that hits you. Whatever it is, it will make you tingle.”

“Oh, brother,” Meggie said, running her fingers through her hair. “I don’t believe this. Will you know him the next time you see him?”

“I think not.” Nadia smiled at Meggie. “It’s for you to look into his soul and recognize him.”

Standing, Meggie said, “It’s all so mysterious, but at least you’ve helped me move forward and become my own boss. Thanks for encouraging me, Miss N. I’ll work hard at it and I’ll be a success. You’ll see.”